[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 236 (Thursday, December 11, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57373-57374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22595]
[[Page 57373]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2016-0168; FRL-13109-01-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Plan Submittals for the 2008
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule; correcting amendment.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) previously approved
State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of
Connecticut under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to address moderate area
nonattainment requirements for the 2008 ozone standard for the Greater
Connecticut and the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New
Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT moderate ozone nonattainment areas. This
rule does not change those previous EPA approvals; it merely corrects
an error inadvertently introduced in a November 30, 2022, final rule by
reinserting reference to EPA's previous approval of Connecticut's motor
vehicle inspection and maintenance program certifications.
DATES: This rule is effective on December 11, 2025.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2016-0168. All documents in the docket
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain
other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the
internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA
Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible,
you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Lillis, Air and Radiation
Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109, (617) 917-1067,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
EPA has identified the need for a typographical correction to the
regulatory text approved into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on
November 30, 2022, by FR Rule Doc. 2022-26016. The typographical error
appears on page 73471, in the first column, in Sec. 52.377, in
amendment 2, within the revised paragraph (t).
II. Final Action
The EPA is revising a final rule published in the Federal Register
on November 30, 2022, that corrected an earlier typographical error in
40 CFR 52.377(t) but inadvertently introduced a new one. In an October
1, 2018, final rule, EPA approved SIP revisions submitted by the State
of Connecticut to meet moderate area nonattainment requirements for the
2008 ozone standard. The SIP revisions were for the Greater Connecticut
and the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long
Island, NY-NJ-CT moderate ozone nonattainment areas, and included these
areas' 2011 base year emissions inventories, an emissions statement
certification, RFP demonstrations, RACM analyses, motor vehicle
emissions budgets, and contingency measures (See 83 FR 49297). In the
regulatory text added to 40 FR 52.377(t) by the October 1, 2018, final
rule, EPA incorrectly cited to CAA Sec. 182(c)(9) for the contingency
measure requirements (See 83 FR 49298). The correct citation for
contingency measure requirements for moderate ozone nonattainment areas
is CAA Sec. 172(c)(9). In addition, in a separate March 29, 2019,
final rule, EPA approved motor vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M)
program certifications submitted by Connecticut for the same ozone
nonattainment areas (See 84 FR 11884). In the March 29, 2019, final
rule, EPA revised 40 CFR 52.377(t) to reflect EPA approval of the I/M
program certifications but continued the incorrect citation to CAA
Sec. 182(c)(9) for the contingency measure requirements (See 84 FR
11885). Finally, on November 30, 2022, EPA published a document that
corrected the citation for moderate area contingency measures to CAA
Sec. 172(c)(9) but inadvertently deleted the reference to EPA's
approval of Connecticut's I/M program certifications from 40 CFR
52.377(t).
This revision does not change EPA's October 1, 2018, and March 29,
2019, approvals, but rather corrects 40 CFR 52.377(t) to reinsert
reference to EPA's approval of Connecticut's I/M program certifications
that was mistakenly deleted in the November 30, 2022, final rule. We
have determined that there is good cause for making this rule final
without prior proposal and opportunity for comment because we are
merely correcting an inadvertent deletion made in a previous action.
Thus, notice and public procedure are unnecessary. We find that this
constitutes good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Clean Air Act
and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For that reason, this action:
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
Is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) because SIP actions are exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866;
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a state program;
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National
[[Page 57374]]
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with
the Clean Air Act.
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian
country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: December 4, 2025.
Mark Sanborn,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations
is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart H--Connecticut
0
2. Section 52.377 is amended by revising paragraph (t) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.377 Control strategy: Ozone.
* * * * *
(t) Approval. Revisions to the State Implementation Plan submitted
by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on
January 17, 2017, September 5, 2017, and August 8, 2017, to meet, in
part, requirements of the 2008 ozone NAAQS. These revisions satisfy the
rate of progress requirement of section 182(b) through 2017, the motor
vehicle inspection and maintenance requirements of section 182(b), the
contingency measure requirements of section 172(c)(9), the emission
statement requirements of section 182(a)(3)(B), and the reasonably
available control measure requirement of section 172(c)(1) for the
Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island,
NY-NJ-CT area, and the Greater Connecticut moderate ozone nonattainment
areas. The January 17, 2017, revision establishes motor vehicle
emissions budgets for 2017 of 15.9 tons per day of VOC and 22.2 tons
per day of NOX to be used in transportation conformity in
the Greater Connecticut moderate ozone nonattainment area. The August
8, 2017, revision establishes motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2017
of 17.6 tons per day of VOC and 24.6 tons per day of NOX to
be used in transportation conformity in the Connecticut portion of the
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT moderate ozone
nonattainment area.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2025-22595 Filed 12-10-25; 8:45 am]
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